About this episode: 

In the same month that Abraham Lincoln was re-elected, Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman began a campaign that cut a swath through the very heart of Dixie. Severing his supply line and committed to living off the country, he hoped to break the will of Southern resistance and knock Georgia out of the war. This episode, Part I, details the military chessboard that was late summer and fall of 1864 - the moves and calculations that had to occur in order to breathe life into Sherman’s plans. This is the story of the principals and conditions by which one of the most remarkable campaigns in American military history came about. This is the story of how Sherman’s March to the Sea became a reality.

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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode:

William Tecumseh Sherman

Franz Sigel

Mary Boykin Chesnut

James Calhoun

William Joseph Hardee

John Schofield

**Title Image by Mort Künstler

Get The Guide:

Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.

Producer: Dan Irving